Southeast women look to tighten grip on first place

As impressive as Southeast Missouri State University's women were against Tennessee Tech on Thursday, the team knows that will mean little when Austin Peay visits the Show Me Center tonight.

Southeast (10-6, 4-1), which moved into a first-place Ohio Valley Conference tie with its 62-45 rout of Tech, and Austin Peay (6-10, 2-3) square off at 7:30 p.m., following the men's contest.

"We just have to be ready to play and leave this one behind us," senior forward Chandra Brown said following Thursday's triumph. "If we lose to Austin Peay, this one won't mean that much."

Added junior center Tatiana Conceicao, the OVC's leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, "It was good to win like that, but now we have to worry about Austin Peay."

Southeast coach B.J. Smith was understandably proud of his squad's performance -- particularly defensively -- against the OVC's preseason favorite. But Smith also issued words of caution to his players.

"The first thing I said when the game was over was enjoy this until you leave the locker room, but if we don't beat Austin Peay, this won't mean anything," Smith said.

Although Austin Peay has struggled some this season after the graduation of conference player of the year Gerlonda Hardin, Smith knows the Governors are still dangerous as they returned most of their key players except for Hardin.

"It won't be easy. It will be a battle," Smith said. "They're still a good team."

Smith, in his third year at Southeast, had been 0-6 against Austin Peay since taking over the program, but the team finally ended that streak on Jan. 6 by posting a 59-56 victory in Clarksville, Tenn.

"It was big to finally beat them," Smith said. "But now we have to do it again."

Junior guard Kera Bergeron leads the Govs in scoring with 11.8 points per game, followed by junior forward Ashley Haynes (10.0 ppg). Freshman center Robin Leslie was averaging 10.5 points but was recently declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.

While Conceicao is Southeast's only player averaging in double figures, others have taken turns stepping up, particularly during a current three-game winning streak.

Brown had her best game of the season Thursday with 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, backing up Conceicao's 24-point outing. Brown is Southeast's top rebounder with 6.9 per game and also leads in blocks with 25.

"Chandra did a phenomenal job inside. She played great defense and gave a great effort," Smith said.